Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The Halo Benders - The Rebel's Not In

Danny and I listened to this record a lot this summer when working on Kite Tails stuff. Or at least I think we did, I know we talked about the Halo Benders a lot though, and how he hates Doug Martsch and wishes Calvin Johnson just sang all the songs. Again, as I stated in the God Don't Make No Junk write up, this is the best Halo Benders record. It has three fucking outstanding songs that, if they were made into a 3 song 7”, would probably be the best 7” ever. “Virginia Reel Around the Fountain” is where I started, the first Halo Benders song I ever heard and it comes very, very close to rivaling “Don't Touch My Bikini,” but that songs' weirdness ultimately makes it the better track. However, the restraint used here is what makes The Rebel's Not In more successful than God Don't Make No Junk. The other two tracks that kill me are pretty much ballads. The gorgeous and sad sad sad “Lonesome Sundown” (which Mirah did an EXCELLENT cover of on her recently released b-sides compilation). “Love Travels Faster” is comes in third place for best Halo Benders jam. Martsch's refrain of “Faster than airplanes/faster than cats/faster than robots/faster than that” always makes me feel sad and hopeful. That whole song does. The lyrics are practically nonsensical but there's something that just squeezes my heart on that one. Overall, this is a record I need to spend more time with.